Societies coping with risks: Environmental challenges and social mobilisation

Organizers:
International interdisciplinary research project "Politics and Society After Chernobyl: Belarus, Ukraine, Russia, Lithuania, and Germany in Comparative and Entangled Historical perspective (1986-2006)" A a joint project of the Center of Research on Contemporary History Potsdam (ZZF), the Justus-Liebig University Giessen (JLU), the European Humanities University Vilnius/Minsk (EHU), and the Ukraine National University Kievo-Mohyla Academy (NaUKMA).

This project is part of the initiative of the Volkswagen Foundation “Unity amidst Variety. Intellectual Foundations and Requirements for an Enlarged Europe.”

Description:
Contemporary societies are facing multi-facetted environmental challenges. Natural disasters, such as hurricanes (Katrina), tsunamis (Asia 2004), earthquakes (Haiti) and floods (Transcarpathia), technogenic catastrophes, such as those involving nuclear reactors (Chernobyl), chemical plant explosions (Bhopal and Toulouse) and oil and chemical spills (Baia Mara) highlight the importance of properly managing the environmental risks which are (re)emerging as a result of climate change, resource depletion and the development of science and technologies. Social mobilisation as a response to such disasters and environmental risks is the focus of this year’s summer school, organised by the international interdisciplinary research project “Politics and Society after Chernobyl”. The school intends to create a space where participants will be able to discuss the impact of environmental challenges on social and political processes, institutions and values. The range of issues to be discussed will be concentrated around (but not limited to) the experiences of post-socialist countries.

The following questions will guide our discussions:

• How do (post-socialist) societies respond to environmental problems?
• How do environmental challenges stimulate / determine / shape social and political development?
• What are social reactions to disasters? What comes after the initial shock, emergency relief efforts and humanitarian aid? How do social interactions change in the post-disaster context? Which memories do they produce?
• What is the role of social mobilisation in societies coping with environmental risks?
• How does social mobilisation contribute to the visibility of environmental risks in the public sphere?
• How do environmental challenges influence mobilisation patterns?
• How are identity issues involved in environmental movement initiatives?

Summer school programme (pdf)